1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to a system and method of procuring energy and energy related products and services (hereinafter “energy”) for a consumer. More particularly, the invention relates to a system and method for procuring electrical power for a retail customer from one or more wholesale parties.
2. Background Information
The electric power and natural gas industries have experienced fundamental changes resulting from deregulation. One result of deregulation has been to give end users a choice of energy providers. Until recently, substantially all end users purchased the electric power or natural gas they needed from the local electric or gas utility serving their geographic area. Electric utilities have generally operated as vertically integrated local monopolies, producing or purchasing (on a wholesale basis), the quantities of electric power they needed to serve all end users within the utility's geographic boundaries. Natural gas utilities have generally operated in a similar fashion, though usually purchasing rather than producing most of the natural gas they need.
One of the primary objectives of deregulation has been to reduce energy costs for end users by fostering competition among energy providers. However, present means through which end users may procure energy from energy producers has many drawbacks which tend to lead to less than optimum pricing for the end user. One such approach, a fixed retail price reverse auction, occurs at the retail level and only contemplates a fixed price for a customer's full requirements. Another approach, an opaque offer process conducted with wholesale counterparties by the retail electricity provider, can be for less than full requirements but is not completely transparent to the retail customer.
As such, there is room for improvement to existing methods of energy procurement. The present invention provides for an improved method of energy procurement and system for employing.